TOKYO, Muharram 28, 1436, Nov 21, 2014, SPA -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved parliament's lower house on Friday for a snap election expected on Dec. 14, seeking a fresh mandate for his struggling "Abenomics" revival strategy just two years after he returned to power promising that "Japan is Back". According to Reuters, Abe had vowed to revive the economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms, while moving ahead with plans to rein in Japan's massive public debt. Abe has said he would delay for 18 months a second tax hike to 10 percent that had been slated for October 2015. He pledged that the second increase, which advocates say is needed to fund the bulging social security costs of a fast-ageing population, would go ahead in April 2017. No general election needed to be held until late 2016. --SPA 13:59 LOCAL TIME 10:59 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w